The Lightning Thief: Annabeth's story
by Esperlia
Summary: Look right, I wanted to meet him. He'd be the answer I have been looking for, the leader of the prophecy... and of course, my answer to getting a quest! The Lightning Thief from Annabeth's POV! Let's see how Wise girl thinks!
1. I meet the kid I've been waiting for

"Chiron, stop pacing. Grover's_ fine_"

Chiron was walking around on all four hooves in the rain. The storm was getting harder around the camp borders, but the rain was scarce in Camp. Chiron mumbled something and I told him to get out of the rain.

"They're supposed to be _here!_" Chiron groaned as lightning took it's first appearance across the sky. Zeus must be angry about something. Probably something to do with that deadline.

"Maybe... maybe they're on top of the-"

ROAR!

Thunder crackled and was accompanied by a loud animal noise. No, scratch that - a _monster_ noise.

"He's here."

Chiron's eyes looked wild as he cantered to the window. I followed him, and peered out. Nothing. I could only see Thalia's tree.

"Who's here?" I asked.

"Annabeth, I want you to get a bed ready in the infirmary. I shall go contact Mr D about the arrival of Grover"

"What? Grover's here?"

He had already started to trot off. I sighed and went to get a bed ready, with linen sheets. Who was with Grover and what was that sound? I sat on the porch with my ancient greek book waiting for Chiron to come back.

I saw a brilliant flash of gold near Thalia's tree. Very soon, Chiron came galloping into view with his fake wheelchair. He only used it for when newbies came.

"They're coming. Have you prepared a bed?" I nodded, curious. Who was coming?

"Good, Annabeth. He's here"

"Who? A new half-blood?" I couldn't stop my curiousity from getting the better of me. Chiron made a sound, so I guess he was saying yes.

"Is it... is it him?" My eyes started to widen. The demi-god I'd been waiting for? Was it them?

This time, Chiron made no sound and just watched the hill. I followed his gaze and saw the boy with inky black hair come down the steep hill. He had... Grover? on his back. Chiron was already in his wheelchair. He got to the porch before collapsing.

He was crying, hard.

"Mom..." He kept on saying. He smelt bad. Something like beef or some sorta meat.

He looked back and forth at me and Chiron before closing his eyes.

"He's the One. He must be" I declared.

"Silence, Annabeth." Chiron said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

I tried to pick him up, but the smell was too much. Instead, I pulled him by the collar, to the room I had prepared earlier. Chiron watched, me, leaving Grover on the porch.

"His mouth is bleeding. Annabeth, when you have finished with... Percy, Go and wake Lee Fletcher and tell him his assistance is required." I nodded, while tucking Percy in bed.

"Oh and Annabeth?"

"Chiron?"

"Don't tell him anything."

After waking up Lee, I went back to check on Percy. If he was the one that would help me get on my quest, then I had to make sure he was a suitable candidate.

Chiron was nowhere to be seen, when I went into the room. Percy was knocked out. He still stank of raw meat and flesh and he was wet.

He looked really slim, obviously not athletic, but not a glutton. His breathing was in short rugged patterns. I remembered his eyes were sort of sea-green, maybe blue. His hair wasn't that dark now I looked at him properly. It was even brown.

By the looks of it, he was 12, maybe 13. Good. The same age as me, meaning we could somewhat relate to each other.

"Annabeth." Chiron was standing in the doorway. I nearly blushed when he caught me staring at Percy.

"Yes, Chiron?"

"Please, when Percy wakes up, don't demand him with questions. He won't understand,"

"Okay," I was going to do it anyway.

"Annabeth, I know you, and you're probably going to do it anyway," Chiron sighed, whislt wheeling out. I guess he got too comfortable in the wheelchair to get out.

"Annabeth, get some sleep." He called from the hallway.

"Okay," I said, backing out of the room.

Well, tomorrow was going to be an eventful day.


	2. The kid drools

The only thing on my mind when I woke up was Percy.

No, not in_ that_ way.

If he was going to be my quest-mate, then I'd have to train him up. Or hope would be lost. He was the only possible answer. Or had Chiron lied?

No, didn't think so.

My half brother, Malcom was looking at me weirdly. I guess it's because I'm already deep in thought at 6 in the morning.

"Nothing. Annabeth, what happened last night?"

"Can't say. Wait for Chiron to announce it" I shrugged. Malcom rolled his eyes and I swear he murmered something like know-it-all. Haha.

I get out of bed and go for a shower, before all the other kids come and disturb. I was supposed to lead my cabin in an Archery class, then sword fighting and lastly canoeing class, but I had other things on my mind. I bet Chiron wanted me to look after Percy. I hoped he didn't. I'd rather read or learn how to use my dagger.

I made myself very hard to find. The harder the better. However, Chiron found me anyway, and asked me to look after Percy. I couldn't say no, so I was stuck in the room with Meat boy.

"Moo..." He kept on murmering. He turned over and I could see drool coming out of his mouth.

Oh great. The kid drools. And now he's going on about cows! I had to admit, he did look really serene, and adorable.

Everytime I wanted to leave the room, Argus saw me with one of his billions of eyes and I got back into the room. Around Lunch, my stomach was grumbling because I didn't have any breakfast. As soon as it started, Chiron came in with some pudding and some crêpes. I licked my lips hungrily.

"Feed him this pudding and the stack of crêpes are for you." He put the plates down on the bed-side table along with a spoon and a knife and fork.

"Thanks, Annabeth"

"No problem Chiron."

He looked at Percy worriedly, before leaving the room. I started on my crêpes like a hungry bug as Percy spoke of pigs trying to eat him and I just noted this down in my mind.

"Mrs Dodds... winged bat with talons... Grover...a furry... butt..." he turned over.

Mrs Dodds? Meat boy say what?

Now I had to think. What monster had wings and talons. I know. The Furies. Or the Kindly ones which is the desired name. So, he met a **Kindly One** _and_ **The Minotaur? **Well what a lucky demi-god to escape them both. He must be powerful. Can't Athena, we don't look alike. Maybe an Ares or Apollo. He doesn't resembled any of them, though. Maybe his genes are messed up.

"Cinderella girl..."

I took the chance that he opened his mouth to stuff pudding into his mouth. He swallowed it and I stuffed more down his throat.

The day went pretty unevental. Around dinner, Argus came in and took over. My brothers and sisters wouldn't leave me alone. Word had spread that Percy had fought the minotaur - and _survived_.

"So, what's he like? Is he big and strong and grey-eyed or not?"

"He's average, I guess. Black hair, greeny blue eyes." I shrugged as I burnt a piece of my steak. I ignored my siblings groaning in dissapointment as we walked past Chiron's table. He was talking to Mr D. I slowed down to get the gist of their conversation.

"Your father won't stop! We have no idea who stole it! And you're drinking coke?"

Mr D looked at me and I started to walk faster.

* * *

The next day, I was asked to look after Percy again. It was pretty boring, but I didn't complain. Although, he did speak in his sleep. His commentaries were really interesting.

"Grover said the deadline is the Summer Solstice... Food..." I was feeding him Ambrosia pudding and he opened his eyes. A greeny-blue colour, I was right. He was looking at me, confused. I smirked and scraped pudding off his chin. I took this opportunity to question him. I put on my serious face and he frowned.

"What's going to happen on the Summer Solstice?" I said.

"What?" He croaked. His brows creased in confusion.

I glanced over my shoulder, because I could hear someone coming. If it was Chiron and he heard, I'd be in so much trouble...

"What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!" I said.

"I'm sorry" He murmers. I almost rolled my eyes. "I don't..."

As I hear the door open, I stuffed the pudding into his mouth to keep him from talking, as Argus comes in. The eyes on his body are all watching me. I swear, he can hear anything.

Percy had gone to sleep. Probably from exhaustion.

"Can I go?" I asked, after I had finished feeding him. Argus nodded and I left.

I didn't tell my siblings anything during Archery, though they bugged me for information. I told them Percy would tell them with time and they all rolled their eyes at me. I wasn't one to broadcast information, and they knew it, but it never stopped them from trying to get it out of me.

Archery was easy enough, although I'm not that good at it. After Archery, we had sword fighting class. I could rely on my trust dagger that Luke gave me a few years back. I shredded one dummy with the help of my half sister and half brother Becki and Ryan. They were a few years older than me, but only joined camp last year.

When we had finished our activities, I went and sat by the lake. I was a weak swimmer and the naiads were forming and turning into water as they saw me.

"Annabeth!" I heard. I turned around and saw Luke, leader of the Hermes cabin. I smiled instantly as he joined me.

"Hey, Luke," I said, looking back at the water. He whistled for a bit, before asking me of Percy.

"He fought the Minotaur, right?" I nodded. "Wow. That's pretty big."

I could tell that Luke was impressed. I rolled my eyes. Everyone wanted to know everything about Percy, because he just got lucky enough to survive and destroy the Minotaur. Everyone wanted to use me as their fountain of knowledge, which made it more annoying.

"When he comes around, don't tell him I told you this." He probably would, but I didn't care. Heck, I wouldn't care if he told all the campers.

"Okay"

"The kid drools."

* * *

**_A/N:_****  
**

_Thanks to Total Percabeth for reviewing!_

_xoxo Esperlia_


	3. Percy's Adventure in the Girls Bathroom

The next day was very eventful. Chiron predicted that Percy would wake up very soon. Me and Grover were busy getting the porch looking just right for his awake. The poor kid, just lost his mom and smelled of beef for a day and a half.

"Do you think that they'll take my searchers licence away?" Grover bleated, his upper-lip quivering. I felt a pang in my heart.

"No, they can't do that, Grover! You're one of the best satyrs out there! Don't give up up faith!" He tried to smile at me, but his lip got in the way.

"Thanks Annabeth" He said once we were done. "Can you help me carry him out here?"

"I'll take the head, you'll take the legs" I smirked. He nodded, trying to seem more cheerful.

We brought Percy outside to let him see the view over the side of the hill. It was absolutely breath taking, I'll admit it. It would be nice to let him see something so nice so we could give him a good view of Camp.

"Okay, here we go. Thank's alot Annabeth" Grover said, putting Percy down. I smiled and went around to the opposite side of the porch. Chiron and Mr D were playing Pinochle, and chatting, like good friends.

I wasn't listening to their conversation in detail and I only picked up on a few bits. Most of the things I heard were to do with the game. I leaned over the railing and watched the campers go about their lives, training for something they might not even face.

I saw Clarrisse poking some other innocent campers and some satyrs playing volleyball. It was Saturday, and we take that as a day off, before resuming our activities again tomorrow.

I heard footsteps on the porch get closer and closer.

"That's Mr D. He's the camp directer, so be polite." I heard Grover half-whisper. "The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody" I smirked at my introduction.

"And you already know Chiron..." So he knew Chiron from before-hand, huh?

"Mr Brunner!" Percy shrieked. My smirk was plastered on my face. He sounded like a girl.

Chiron said a few things to him and then called me.

"Annabeth?" I went towards them. Chiron was smiling and Percy was startled.

"This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in Cabin Eleven for now."

I half-nodded. "Sure, Chiron"

I noticed Percy squinting at me and I scrutinised his face. He looked... well normal. I was kinda dissappointed. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something. I looked at the box in his hand, then back at him. Probably the minotaur horn. What, did he expect me to compliment him, or throw myself all over him? Ha!

"You drool when you sleep." I said. He started to blush. I almost stuck my tongue out, but I held the urge and sprinted to the Hermes cabin to check on his bed.

Luke was clearing a space, a job I asked him to do yesterday. When he saw me, he scratched the back of his head, nervously. I chuckled.

"Haha, I'm kind of a procrastinator" Luke said.

He finished with the space and told his other siblings and campers to move up. They grumbled in response. The Hermes cabin was always full, no matter what. I don't know why the gods forgot their children. I was lucky that Athena claimed me, or else I would still be stuck here.

"Percy woke up. He's coming in a few minutes. I'll wait outside for you" I nodded. My book was tucked in the grass, because I had prepared for this. I heard Chiron and Percy coming, and saw Percy look into cabin 3. Big mistake.

I saw them coming over to me and I looked Percy up and down, calculating his strength. Nah, nothing special. Probably a Hermes kid, though he looked nothing like Luke.

He was looking at my book, probably trying to understand the title. I could see he was impressed by what I was reading.

"Annabeth" Chiron said. "I have my masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

"Yes, sir" I nodded.

He gestured towards the Hermes cabin

"Cabin eleven. Make yourself at home" He told Percy.

Percy was looking at everything and everyone. He seemed to take notice of how many people were put into one cabin.

When the campers saw Chiron, they bowed for him. Being a centaur meant that Chiron couldn't fit into the cabins.

"Well then. Good luck Percy, I'll see you at dinner." Then Chiron galloped away, with Percy watching in awe.

The Hermes cabin kids were staring at him. Percy gulped. Was he going to stand in the doorway forever?

"Well" I prompted. "Go on" I nearly shoved him in.

Like the dweeb his was, he tripped. The campers started to snicker and the back of Percy's neck turned pink. I smirked.

"Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven" I announced.

"Regular or Undetermined?" Travis Stoll asked.

"Undetermined." In unison, everyone groaned. They would've groaned if I said regular too. Hey, you can't please everyone.

Luke, who had probably just finished clearing a space for Percy came forward. I smiled.

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."

Luke's scar shimmered in the light of the doorway. Percy studied his face.

"This is Luke" I said, still smiling. Percy looked at me and smirked. I scrunched my eyebrows at him, my smile dissapearing. "He's your counsellor for now."

"For now?" He asked, exasperated.

"You're undetermined. They don't know whar cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the the god of travellers."

Percy looked at the section of floor they had given him. He seemed to accept the fact that he was undetermined quickly enough. I could tell that he wanted to put the minotaur horn down, but Hermes was also the god of thieves... you couldn't trust a Hermes kid.

"How long will I be here?" He asked, after looking at all the campers. Connor stoll was staring at the shoe box with the minotaur horn in it.

"Good question." Luke said. "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

The Hermes cabin laughed. I felt sorry for him, already the laughing stock of the Hermes cabin. Poor kid.

"Come on" I told him "I'll show you the volleyball court"

"I've already seen it" He shrugged.

"Come on!"

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the laughing Herme's cabin. When we were quite a way off from them I stopped dragging. He followed me willingly.

"Jackson, you have to do better than that" I said, sighing.

"What?" Was he playing dumb or was there sand in his ears?

I rolled my eyes. "I can't believe I thought you were the one" I mumbled.

"What is your problem?" Oh, so now he decided to clear the sand outta his ears? I could tell he was angry, but I didn't care/

"All I know is that I kill some bull guy-"

"Don't talk like that!" I nearly shouted " You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd have your chance?"

"To get killed?" He had a temper.

"To fight the minotaur!" I half shrieked. "What do you think we train for!"

He tried to calm down and shook his head. "Look if the thing I fought really was _the _Minotaur, the same one from the stories... "

"Yes"

"Then there's only one"

"Yes."

"Annd he died, like a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So"

I almost laughed. " Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed, but they don't die"

"Gee thanks. That clears it up" I rolled my eyes at his attempt of sarcasm. Guess he needed a little more explaining for this.

"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky" Most demigods aren't. "But they're primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form"

He was thinking. Hard.

"You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword - "

"The Fu... I mean, your maths reacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad"

"How did you know about Mrs Dodds?"

"You talk in your sleep"

"You almost called her something. A fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

I glanced at the ground, hoping Hades wasn't listening. I could bet 2 drachmas he was.

"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

"Look, is there anything we _can_ say without it thundering? Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven anyway? Why is everyone so crowded together!" He sounded like a whiny spoiled kid. " There are plently of empty bunks right over there!"

He pointed at the big three cabins and I felt myself going pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are, Or... your parent."

I looked at him, waiting for him to get it.

"My mom is Sally Jackson. She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station, At least, she used to." He sounded so miserable. I felt so sorry for him.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean, I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad"

"He's dead, I never knew him" He replied, flatly.

I sighed. He was taking this easier than the other kids I had told but it was irksome.

"Your father's not dead, Percy"

"How can you say that, You know him?" Clearly, he had a lot of resentment to his father...Whoever he was.

"No of course not."

"Then how can you say-"

"Because I know _you_. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

"You don't know anything about me."

"No?" Inside, I laughed, then raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them"

His face contorted into a look of disbelief. "How - "

"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."

His face turned pink, out of embarrassment. Why, I didn't know. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, every demigod herer had ADHD and dyslexia.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Taken together" I continued, "it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."

"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?" He looked hopeful, as if he had finally been understood.

"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar."

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."

He looked pale, and swayed a little, taking it all in. I could understand, it was a lot of information to behold. He was about to speak, when Clarisse arrived.

"Well!" She said, in her overly husky voice. "A newbie!"

I looked at her, and sure enough, Clarisse and her other cabin mates were sauntering towards us, as if they ruled the place. Ha! They very well knew that the Athena Cabin did.

"Clarisse." I sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?" I was sure that's what she did in her free time.

"Sure, Miss Princess. So I can run you through with it Friday Night."

She was delusional.

"_Erre es korakas!"_ I hissed at her. _'Go to the crows!' _Doesn't sound like much, but it's worse than you think.

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. I bet she hoped I hadn't seen. She turned towards Percy.

"Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson, meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares." I introduced them

Percy blinked, his sea-green eyes confused. "Like ... the war god?"

Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," He said, over-confidently. "It explains the bad smell." Did this kid want to die on his first day at camp? At least wait until Capture the flag, and it would be for a good reason!

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse—" I tried to intervene, unsuccessfully.

"Stay out of it, wise girl." Clarisse snarled at me.

I formed a pained look on my face, but I did stay out of it. I could tell he thought he would earn a good reputation by fighting her. Even if he did survive these events, his reputation would be earned and backed up by his godly parent. I wasn't sure who it was so far.

He handed me his minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but Clarisse pulled him by the neck and was dragging him towards the bathroom. Oh gods, I hoped he was prepared for a dunking.

Percy was kicking and punching. I know from experience that Clarisse had iron hands. She should be Iron Woman . She dragged him into the girls' bathroom.

The showers were pretty clean, but the toilets sucked. Seriously, if I had designed it, it would be an amazing experience to come and pee here. It smelled like well... um ... yeah, and sewage.

_'C'mon Percy!' _I thought to myself. '_The strength you used on the minotaur! Where is it? You're a boy! YOU'VE FOUGHT BEFORE!' _I mentally cheered on.

Oh gods, I couldn't watch. I shoved the shoebox with the minotaur horn between my armpit and put my hands over my face. Then I peeped through the gaps inbetween.

Clarisse's friends were all laughing. I noted them down, for Friday when we knock them off their high hats.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed him toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

Her friends snickered. I wondered what had actually gone down with the minotaur.

Percy looked at me, disgusted. His eyes looked greener. Maybe it was the artificial light. He was bent over his knees, because Clarisse had pushed him into that position, and his head was right over a toilet bowl. He was resisting Clarisse's pushes for his head to go right in there.

Then something happened. I heard the plumbing rumble and the pipes shuddered violently. Clarisse's face changed from devious, to confused. Her grip on his hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over his head, and the next thing I knew, I was soaking wet.

Oh my gods.

Toilet water started to spray everywhere, and Percy was sprawled against the cold tile floor. Clarisse's friends were screaming, all of them being attacked by water.

I felt wind next to me, and suddenly Clarisse wasn't in the room any more. More water was spraying ruthlessly, attacking everything in it's path. My front was soaked and I felt disgusting.

It was all over too quickly. My eyes sought out Percy's confused gaze, and I stared at him, shock etched all over my face. He met my eyes and stood up, his legs trembling.

The whole bathroom was flooded. Percy stood in the only dry spot. What the...

"How did you...?" I started to say, putting my hands down.

"I don't know." He muttered, cautiously.

We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage.

She looked at Percy, probably cursing him to a thousand painful and horrible deaths.

"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead." She shouted at him

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." He said, his words full of mischief. I'm glad he didn't let it go. It showed bravery. Even though bravery could get him killed. I hoped Ares wasn't his father.

Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet. She was cursing in Ancient Greek, which Percy chose to ignore.

I looked at him. I wasn't angry, nor disgusted. I had at least 6 extra pairs of shorts in my cabin, and 2 more t shirts. He looked worried. I calculated this skill. If we could get to use him as the standing guard for camp, he would guard our flag... and if Clarisse wanted her revenge, then she would...

It all fit perfectly together.

"What?" He demanded. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," I said, starting to smile. This could definitely work. No, not could. It _would_ work.

"that I want you on my team for capture the flag."

* * *

**_Thanks to _**_**Can't-find-a-name-not-takened for reviewingg :))**_

_**Oh, and how do you turn anonymous reviews on? :)**_


	4. I answer his Questions

Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever me and Percy ventured to, campers pointed at him and murmured something about toilet water. Some stared at me, because I was still soaking wet.

I showed him a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where the satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of the missing god, Pan), and our very special, one of a kind climbing wall, which consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.

Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. Percy looked at the river, thoughtfully.

"I've got training to do," I said, no emotion colouring my voice. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall." I started to turn away

"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." He pleaded.

"Whatever." I didn't mind really. I just hoped the smell of toilet water would disperse from my hair.

"It wasn't my fault." He said. Ha! Yeah right!

I looked at him, somewhat sceptically, and I saw realization hit his face. I could tell, he couldn't understand how. The toilets and Percy had become one, together combined and on a warped mission to make Percy the Lord of the water.

Wait? Lord of the Water? Very suspicious.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," I concluded.

"Who?" It was Percy's time to look at me sceptically.

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron." Chiron would probably deny the request, but it was worth a shot.

Percy looked towards the lake. His eyes wandered into the sea-green (the colour of his eyes, I noted) depths of the water, and he noticed the Naiads. He was startled to see them waving at him, eagerly.

Stupidly, he waved back.

"Don't encourage them," I warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Naiads," He repeated over me, then took a deep breath. "That's it. I want to go home now."

I frowned. Camp was his home. It was _our_ home For now, anyway. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us." I said.

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?" He was kidding me.

"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?" Tell me he was kidding me.

"I think you know."

I could see the reluctance in his face to answer me. "God," He said. "Half-god."

I nodded. He wasn't kidding me. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."

"That's ... crazy." He concluded.

"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?" I internally smiled. I found it kinda funny.

"But those are just— But if all the kids here are half-gods—" He didn't say myths, strange.

"Demigods," I corrected. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

"Then who's your dad?" He asked, curious.

My dad. My father. Him. I looked down, at the railing, and my hands had tightened around the rails. I looked back at Percy, who seemed concerned.

"My dad is a professor at West Point," I said, slowly. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."

"He's human." NOOOOOO, HE WAS A SATYR.

"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?" I snapped at him. He didn't seem so offended.

"Who's your mom, then?"

"Cabin six." Could he remember?

"Meaning?" No, he couldn't

I straightened. My mother was a very important figure in my life. I should show her with respect and dignity, because that's the Athena way. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

He seemed really accepting of the fact.

"And my dad?" He asked, hopefully.

"Undetermined," I replied, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."

"Except my mother. She knew." He seemed sure.

"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities." I said, softly. It was a crazy idea, but then his mom was really important to him, I could tell. So I went along with it.

"My dad would have. He loved her."

I gave him a cautious look.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens." I was careful to say maybe. Not always/

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

I traced the rail with my palm, trying to avoid his gaze. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

When I looked back at Percy, he had began to lean on the rain, thinking. Perhaps of the Hermes cabin? I knew Luke had some sort of resentment to his father, Hermes, but he didn't_ hate_ Hermes, I don't think.

"So I'm stuck here," His shoulders slumped slightly.. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"

"It depends," I said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I toldyou the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?"

I shook my head no. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights. Practical jokes."

"Practical jokes?"

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So ... you're a year-rounder?"

I nodded. From under my T-shirt collar, I pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was almost identical to Lukes, except I had my fathers gold ring on it.

"I've been here since I was seven," I said, nostalgia clouding my memories. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why did you come so young?"

Out of habit, I twisted the ring on the necklace. "None of your business." I snapped.

"Oh." He stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."

"Unless?"

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."

I stopped talking. Luke was the last time, and the result was horrendous. The scar would stay on his face for the rest of his life, signifying the danger of a quest.

"Back in the sick room, when you were feeding me that stuff—"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

Aha! This is what I wanted to hear! I was excited, so my shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"

"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

I clenched my fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor. You are a New Yorker, right?" He must know this, he's a New Yorker.

"Oh, sure." He didn't know.

"Right after we visited," I continued anyway, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

He shook his head. He seemed tired. It was the flow of information going into his head. I got this over years, and it's amazing how he's stomaching this all now.

"I've got to get a quest," I muttered to myself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem ..."

The barbecue smell wafted down the hill. Percy's stomach rumbled. I told him to go, and I would catch him later. He seemed eager to learn more, but then the food.

He left me on the pier, I was forming a plan in my mind.

I didn't realise how long I had been there until the conch horn blew in the distance. Oh no! My cabin would be waiting for me, and going to dinner without their leader present?

That's absurd.

When I got to the cabin ring, only the Dionysus cabin had come out. I quickly hurried my cabin (Athena) out to the courtyard and told them to form a line in order of seniority, so of course, I was at the front. My brother Malcolm stood behind me, towering over me. He was tall.

We marched up the hill to the pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. The wood nymphs melted from their various trees and joined us.

I looked back at cabin eleven. Luke was talking to the Stoll brothers, a smile on his face. I instantly smiled on seeing him. Then I saw a flash of sea green and blackish brown. Percy was way at the back, watching a nymph melt out of the tree.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a small tub. Classiest things for the gods!

All the cabins had a table, and I led my cabin to the Athena table. I felt someone looking at me, and it was Percy. He was hanging off the bench of the cabin 11 table. He smiled upon seeing me and I acknowledged him with a nod.

Clarisse was sitting behind him, laughing and belching.

Soon enough, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

"To the gods!" Everyone repeated, as the wood nymphs came with platters of food. So many fruits, and barbecue steak. I told my cup to fill with lemonade.

Then we stood up, and went to burn our offering to the gods.

When it came to my turn, I gave my biggest bunch of grapes, and nicest looking part of my steak to Athena. I asked her for guidance. The smoke that came after smelled of chocolate caramel cookies.

Once everyone had gotten to their seats, and finished eating, Chiron pounded his hoof again, for our attention.

Mr. D got up with a huge sigh.

"Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello." He said, sarcastically. "Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table. Gods, we will beat them so bad they'll wipe the moment from their lives entirely.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

I smirked. Chiron muttered something to Mr D.

"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on." He made shooing motions with his hands.

Everybody cheered anyway. We all headed down toward the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. The camp fire was significantly larger today than normal.

Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. Malcolm was asking me what had happened before the dinner. I assumed he was talking about the bathroom fiasco.

"Shut up and go to sleep" I told him. Him and the rest of my cabin chortled an answer.

* * *

The next few days were such a blur.

I asked a few satyrs and nymphs who owed me to teach Percy some lessons. I helped him read Ancient Greek. He was okay, better than most at their first few tries.

I had made sure my cabin's activities overshadowed Percy's schedule, so I could see how he was progressing. He sucked at everything, apart from canoeing, but I doubt a monster would care about that.

He wasn't strong, he couldn't forge very well, fruits didn't go mad crazy around him and forget archery. He wasn't even remotely good at anything other than water sport.

This made me think hard about his father.

It wasn't Hermes, he didn't look like Luke. And Luke told me that when he told Percy he stole toiletries for him, Percy wasn't impressed. Definitely not Apollo. His teeth weren't shiny enough, and he totally failed at archery. Hephaestus wasn't his father either. A definite no-no.

Dionysus. Nuh-uh. No way. You could see the annoyance in Mr D's face when Chiron mentioned Percy.

That only left 3 candidates.

Oh my gods, it was Zeus. He was Thalia's brother. Yes! That was it! Maybe Zeus was seduced by Percy's mom, Sally Jackson, and they got jiggy one night. He might have thought: 'What the heck, let's have 2 kids and sweeten up the honey!'

I couldn't think of any other solution. Percy seemed too bright to be a Hades kid... I didn't want to think of the other one. My mom's arch nemesis.

I decided to discard my thoughts on this. The gods would hopefully tell us in time. I didn't like Percy being in the Hermes cabin. He didn't suit their crowd.

* * *

On Thursday evening, Luke told me some news. I was preparing my battle strategy for capture the flag, and he came to me, all excited before dinner.

"He was amazing!"

"Who? Percy? At what?"

"Sword practice! He disarmed _me_! _ME_" I was impressed. I told Luke to tell me what happened.

"Well, basically, I was going through my normal training procedure, and I was slaying him senseless. He was drenched in sweat by the time we were off for a quick break. I poured water on my head, and I guess he was watching, because he did the same. I was watching him, and I saw a purple mark from where I had hit him on his neck fade into nothing! He was smiling brightly, like Apollo riding on one of his red cows. "

"As I usually do, I brought Percy up to demonstrate. I explained the manoeuvre to him, and he looked alert. Then he did it. To _me!_ "

I whistled. That was really cool! Luke was the best swordsman the camp had seen in over 300 years!

"He's something special" I concluded. Luke was already distracted. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Annabeth, have you been having strange dreams?" He asked suddenly.

"Wha-"

"Like, really strange? Someone speaking to you, asking you if you've... never mind. See you later." Just as quick as the question came, Luke stood up, and walked away.

* * *

_**Thanks to Katniss16 for reviewing the last chapter! :D**_

_**Everyone who has reviewed and favourited the story so far has truly made me happy! THANKS SO MUCH :'D**_


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